Nightmares and Poems
by missoswiin
Summary: Three British girls start at Camp Half-Blood. Soon after they arrive, one of them goes missing... Set about a year after The Last Olympian. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, etc, etc.**

**By the way this is my first fanfic, so please be nice! It is set about a year after Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian, and uses quite a lot of the characters from Camp Half-Blood. I hope you enjoy it. Please read and review! :P**

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**Chapter One**

_The air was cold and the night was dark_

_A young man laughed from within the park_

_While battle raged in the sleeping city_

_And the heroes risked—_

"Aagghh!" screamed somebody, startling Alex so much her pen scribbled across the page. She quickly screwed the paper up, and stuffing it in her pocket, rushed towards the screams.

"There's this huge dog attacking Mrs Smithton!" someone shouted. Gasping, she joined the group of kids at the bus stop.

A huge ferocious lion - almost nine feet tall - towered in front of the crowd of confused school children, baring its repulsive teeth at them. As it spat and growled, Alex recoiled and watched its heavy tail thump the ground, narrowly missing a couple of teenagers. Older kids ran to get help, while the rest stared in bewildered terror.

Mrs Smithton, a sturdy little lady with greying hair, was coaxing the beast round the corner, away from the children.

"It's alright!" she called to the crowd. "I know him, he's my neighbour's. Everyone get to school!"

Alex's second day hadn't even started yet, but already something bad had happened. At her last school she had been attacked by a half-bull half-man creature, and it had completely wrecked the school gym before she managed to get away. The teachers, of course, hadn't believed her story, and she had been expelled. She had been hoping for a more enjoyable stay at St Mark's.

Her first day had been quite good; she had made a friend and managed to stay out of trouble. Helen, a nice girl from Alex's history class, had shown her around school, and given her advice about teachers. Her honey-coloured hair and warm, kind eyes had made her seem like a good person to trust. Her 8-year-old sister Lucy was also very friendly. They had walked home together the day before.

The crowd had started to disperse when Alex noticed her friends quietly going the opposite way to everyone else. They rushed in the direction of their home with Alex close behind.

The previous day, Helen had explained how Lucy and herself had moved from where they used to live in Shropshire with their father, down to London. It was just the three of them at home, but Helen's mother visited often. Apparently she had an extremely important job in New York, which prevented her from living with them, but did her best to come home whenever she could. Helen had ignored Alex when she asked what job.

When she caught up with them, Helen and Lucy were heading down a garden path, amongst lilies, roses and sunflowers. The cottage in front of them was beautiful, and when they opened the door the smell of cooking wafted through the doorway.

"Helen!" Alex panted, scrambling after them. "Please can I come in?"

"Oh hi!" she replied, surprised. "Um, yes, of course you can!" So Alex followed them into their doll-like cottage. An old-fashioned wooden fireplace stood in the middle of the living room wall, the fire blazing happily. On the mantel piece a photo of Helen and Lucy stood next to a beautiful Greek painting of a young girl.

"Mum!" shouted Lucy in delight as she bounded towards the kitchen. Alex peered through the door and saw a girl around 15 years old embracing Lucy. She glanced back at the Greek painting, certain it was the same girl.

"Helen?" asked Alex, just a little confused.

"Alex, this is our mum. Mum, this is Alex." Helen introduced them, smiling. Alex frowned.

"Alex, do you know who your parents are?" their mum asked gently.

"Well… no, I live with my foster parents," she replied nervously. She was slightly worried about where the conversation was going. Who was this girl? She was sure she'd seen her somewhere before.

"What did you see at the bus stop?" Lucy asked, interested.

"Um, a lion," she answered. Although someone said it was a dog, it had obviously been a lion.

Suddenly the door opened, making Alex jump as Helen's dad Tom came in.

"Ooh hello!" he said cheerfully. "What's happening in here?" He was looking at Alex, evidently wondering who she was.

"We should get back to school, we're already late," said Helen.

"Wait, I know where I've seen you before!" Alex exclaimed. "You were in my dream!" She closed her eyes as the dream came back to her. The fighting, the monsters, the heroes, and then that girl, Helen's mum, watching it all.

"I think we should ring the school to tell them you're ill, before we talk about this," Helen's mum told her. She left the room, and Tom went after her, hands full of shopping bags. Helen, Lucy and Alex said nothing.

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**What do you think? Please review!!! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

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Here is Chapter 2. Please read and review

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_The summer sun lit up the hillside_

_The air was filled with songs of sparrows_

_Lovers danced and sang with pride_

_As their little babe shot golden arrows_

_But onto an arrow the baby fell_

_The parents rushed to their daughter's aid_

_The gash was deep, but they tended her_

_And she recovered, there in the shade_

"Do you want some tea?" asked Helen as she busied around the kitchen.

The little kitchen was just next to the family's bright and cheerful living room. It overlooked their garden full of purple flowers, and the little pig pen, with a lavender couch by the window. Lucy was sitting looking out the window, while Helen bustled round the small cosy kitchen, and Alex sat staring into space, leaning on the coffee table.

"Yes please!" Lucy chirped enthusiastically.

"Alex?" Helen asked. Alex wasn't listening, she was thinking about her dreams. She had always had strange dreams, but lately she was having more and more that she was sure meant something. Her fiery red hair was tied back in a pony tail, exposing the scar on her neck. She had always wondered about that scar.

Helen made her tea anyway, and sat down with the cups of tea and a plate of biscuits. Lucy dug in immediately.

Just then their dad came in, followed by their mum.

"Ooh biscuits!" said Tom, sitting down beside Lucy and grabbing a digestive.

"Do we have any bourbons?" asked Lucy cheerfully. Her mum went into the kitchen and handed her one.

They were quiet for a minute while everyone sipped their tea.

"Why was that lion outside school?" Alex asked suddenly. "And why did everyone say it was a dog?"

"I don't know, but Mrs Smithton sorted it out." Helen assured her quickly. "You should probably go now – your foster mum will be wondering where you are." Alex noticed how she immediately changed the subject.

"Yes," agreed her mum. "She'll be worrying. You'd better get going." She knelt by the fireplace and tended the fire. Alex noticed how her eyes were a warm red colour, steady as they stared into the fire.

Reluctantly Alex walked home, pondering what had happened at Helen's house. When she got home she told Julie her foster mum that she had a head ache, and went straight up to her room to think things through.

All she knew about her parentage is that her mother died in a car crash, and that her father just disappeared after that. Alex didn't even know if she had any siblings, or what her parents' names were.

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The next day, Alex made her way slowly to school. She arrived late, and slipped into her Science lesson as quietly as possible.

"You must be Alex," said the man standing at the front of the class. "Erm... come and sit next to Nathan." Unfortunately she didn't know anyone in that class, so she just sat with her head on the table for most of the lesson, not really taking in any of what her teacher was saying about food chains and animal habitats.

"Alex? Are you with us Alex?" asked the teacher. She looked up in surprise. "I asked you a question!" The lesson didn't go so well after that.

At break time, Alex went and found Helen. She was sitting with her sister, talking while Lucy wrote in an orange exercise book.

"Hi," she said as she sat down next to them.

"Hi," Lucy replied. "Helen's helping me with my homework. I forgot about it and its due in next lesson!" She continued writing in her book, while Helen and Alex sat in silence.

"Can't you just tell me what's going on?" Alex muttered angrily after a minute. "You just constantly ignore me!" Lucy looked shocked.

"Er... I'm sorry," she apologised. "I didn't get much sleep last night. I'm a bit grumpy at the moment!" Alex tried to laugh, but she felt terrible. The previous night she had dreamt she was in a forest in the middle of a storm, and there was a voice screaming for help, but she couldn't find the person screaming, and suddenly the shrieks stopped. She could see the shadow of something behind her, moving towards her, but then she woke up, shaking. It was around one in the morning, but Alex didn't get back to sleep.

Smiling weakly, Helen answered, "Don't worry about it, everyone has faults. Anyway, let's go inside - it's starting to rain and it's almost the end of break." They made their way across the emptying playground, starting to run as the rain got heavier and heavier.

"Why is it raining, it's June!" moaned Lucy, holding her school bag over her head. They rushed into the dry. Helen showed Alex to their Geography classroom, and they found some seats at the back.

"We're early," Helen commented. Alex nodded non-committally. The rest of the class piled in noisily, chatting nonchalantly about various things as they found their books and sat down. Mrs Smithton, the teacher that had led the lion away from the bus stop, was sitting at the desk at the front of the classroom.

"I wonder where Mr Chambers is," Helen whispered. Alex of course had no idea who Mr Chambers was.

"Quiet!" squawked Mrs Smithton nervously. She was trembling slightly, and looked rather worried, but she had to get on with the lesson.

She issued Alex a new book as it was her first Geography lesson at St Marks, and returned to her desk. Alex noticed her hands were shaking.

Helen and Alex were working together answering a page of Geography questions, when suddenly the window behind them exploded. That's what it seemed like. They rushed up from the table and saw that the lion from the bus stop had jumped through the window, smashing the glass.

Someone screamed.

Mrs Smithton told the class to get to reception, and then turned to see the lion facing her. She screeched.

Next the lion seemed to go straight to Helen and Alex, crashing through the classroom. They ducked under the table and ran towards the door, but the lion was too quick, colliding with the ceiling as he leapt in front of them. Alex was scared. The dusty scent of broken plaster and torn wall paper clogged the air, and fragments of glass were everywhere.

Suddenly there was a creak, and the door was pushed open by the hand of Helen's mum. She looked small and fragile in front of the intimidating lion, but all the same she stood before him holding a rose-coloured blade.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrr…….." growled the lion, baring its teeth. Helen's mum jumped at him, knife outstretched. Picking up a chair in its paws, the lion threw it at her.

"We've got to help her," Helen whispered to Alex. Alex looked horrified. They screamed as they ran at the lion, pencils, rulers, chairs and whatever they could lay their hands on, ready to attack with.

With a roar the lion brushed away the chairs and things they had thrown at him, and grabbed Alex by an arm.

"Put me down!!!!" she shrieked, kicking and hitting him. Hestia thrust her knife at him. The creature howled, but kept on fighting. "Who are you?" she shouted at Helen's mum in disbelief.

"My name is Hestia," she replied softly, not at all out of breath. She feinted at the lion; then stabbed him in the underbelly. It was a skilled manoeuvre you would not expect from someone that looked like Hestia, but the creature only growled.

"Strangle him!" Hestia called, throwing a tie that had been left on someone's desk at Alex.

"What?" she asked as she caught it, but there was no reply. She attempted to get it round his neck, but he was jumping and bucking. Hestia stabbed the lion again in his stomach, and at the same time Alex pulled the tie around his neck as hard as she could. The lion started to roar, but it was cut short as Alex squeezed his neck tight. With an inhuman shriek, it disappeared. Alex dropped to the ground, tufts of the lion's mane still in her hands.

"What was that?" cried Alex, rubbing her arm where she had landed on the floor.

"That," Helen gasped, "was a Nemean lion."

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**So... Do you like it? Don't you? Please tell me!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3. Reviews always welcome! :P**

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_Golden streets, glorious statues_

_Fountains and beautiful plants_

_Magnificent views and wonderful paintings_

_O Olympus, the home of the Gods_

"What did I miss?" asked Lucy as she ran into the classroom. Her lesson had just ended, and someone had told her there'd been a dog in one of the Geography classrooms.

The room was a complete mess; tables and chairs had been knocked over, and some were even broken. Just under the smashed window, numerous books and bits of paper were scattered on the floor, among fragments of glass. Parts of the ceiling had been pulled off, not to mention the cupboard door that had been yanked off its hinges while the lion tried to buck Alex off. There was a dent in the wall beside the door, probably where the Nemean lion had leapt at it.

"What's happened in here?" Lucy asked, gaping at the damage to the room.

"There was a Nemean lion," Helen told her, which obviously didn't mean anything to Lucy but she nodded all the same.

Hestia glanced back at Mrs Smithton, who was quivering like a frightened rabbit. Her clothes were covered in dust from the torn wallpaper, and her face was pale and worried.

"I suppose you need to go and tell someone there was a dog in your classroom," Hestia said.

Mrs. Smithton shook her head. "I can see through the Mist," she explained, fiddling nervously with her graying hair. "I, I know all about the Gods, and Half-Bloods. My friend is a daughter of Hephaestus, and she explained it all to me because I could see through the Mist. B-but don't worry, I've never told a soul until now."

Hestia smiled. "Don't worry then. You can tell everyone that you took the dog back to its owner, and that it won't happen again." Her cheeks were a rosy red colour as if she was sitting in front of a fire, and her eyes danced as she looked at the teacher.

"Okay," she replied slightly less nervously. "Thank you." Gathering some papers from the floor, she quickly left, avoiding the main debris on the carpet.

"What?" Alex demanded when she'd left. "What did she say about Gods, and mist?" She had gone from scared, to relieved, to confused to angry in a matter of minutes.

"We'll explain on the way. I think it's time we took you to Camp Half-Blood," Hestia decided.

"Yes!" shouted Lucy, clearly very excited.

"What?" cried Alex, running after them as they left. "Where are you going?"

They climbed into Hestia's gold Mini, Alex questioning them all the way. Hestia drove, with Lucy sitting happily next to her, Helen gazing out of the window, and Alex beside her sulking. Soon Hestia pulled up beside her cottage, and Lucy enthusiastically jumped out the car. They all went inside, and the sisters bounded up the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Alex called.

"Just to pack a few belongings," answered Hestia. "We're going to your house next. I'll explain to your foster mother."

"But you haven't explained to me!" Alex protested.

Hestia had no time to reply, however, because Helen and Lucy were coming down, carrying small suitcases.

When the Mini stopped at Alex's house, she got out and walked straight past her foster mother, to her room. Now, she had to pack! How can you pack if you don't know where you're going? She thought grumpily. She grabbed some clothes, an old notebook filled with poetry, some toiletries, a teddy and her gold necklace.

By the time she came down Hestia was finishing talking to her foster-mum, smiling and nodding.

"Bye Julie," Alex kissed her, and then hobbled into the car with her bag. Hestia sat down in the driver's seat and started signaling right.

"Where are we going?" asked Alex, exasperated as she waved to Julie. There was no answer.

"What's happening?" she shouted angrily.

"You're a demigod!" Lucy shouted back. Helen shot her sister an irritated glance, while Alex sat dumbfounded. Lucy ignored her.

"What does that mean?" Alex asked quietly, her anger gone.

"It means you are half god. You're a child of one of the Greek gods," Helen explained. Everything was silent except for the car's engine.

"But…" Alex's head was swarming with questions. Should she even believe these people? Somehow it all seemed true. "How do you know?"

Hestia was keeping quiet as she drove onto the motorway. Helen answered again.

"You're dyslexic, ADHD, and you can see through the Mist. It's like that for all half-bloods. And the Mist is something that stops mortals from seeing what's really happening – like if there's a Cyclops or something, they see a normal person to stop them from freaking out." She said, answering Alex's next question. "Plus you don't live with your parents."

The car was silent for a few minutes as Alex tried to understand what they were saying.

"So the Greek Gods are real?" Alex asked.

"Yep!" said Lucy, "and the monsters."

Suddenly they turned off the motorway, and after a minute the car was heading towards a sign that read "Gatwick Airport".

"Airport? I don't have my passport!" exclaimed Alex, worried.

"Don't worry; I can take care of that," said Hestia. They joined the long queue of traffic waiting to get into the airport, as a plane roared above them.

"So Hestia…" Alex began. "You're a goddess, right? So do you do lots of fighting monsters and rescuing people and stuff?"

"I'm not usually one for fighting," Hestia admitted, her red eyes flickering. "I stay at home and keep the fires burning, often unnoticed." Alex realized Hestia's eyes were filled with flames.

"Mum, how long will the flight be?" Lucy enquired, still looking quite excited, completely oblivious to Alex's emotions.

"Around six hours, I should think." Hestia told her.

About half an hour later they were buying their tickets and boarding the plane. It was quite full, as it was summer. They sat down together, and Lucy immediately started chatting to Helen about something that had happened in class that day.

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"Welcome to New York. The plane is about to land," an electronic plastic sounding voice came from the speakers. "Thank you for flying with us today. I hope you had a pleasant flight. We are coming in to land in New York, and the weather is sunny. Enjoy your stay in America. Your air hostess or steward will show you to the exits." There was a metallic click as she put the receiver down.

Alex drearily sat up, rubbing her eyes. Looking out the slightly steamed-up window she saw they had landed. Helen was just waking up, but Lucy was still fast asleep. Hestia was starting to stand up.

"Can I help you?" asked a loud voice by Alex's ear, startling her.

"Uh?" she mumbled, suddenly remembering the morning's events. A tall young man with chin length dark hair and the beginnings of a beard was standing next to her, wearing a badge that read "Lionel, Happy to Help".

"I am your steward," he confided, close to her ear. "Would you like me to show you the exits?"

She looked marginally confused for a second, having just woken up. Then she realized what he'd said. "Oh, erm, if they're all ready." She glanced back at Lucy and Helen, who were just awake. They stood up, and Lionel led them to a door at the side of the aeroplane.

"Here is your exit," he told them with a flourish. Hestia smiled at him.

They collected their baggage and went to hire a car.

Around two hours later they parked on the road beside a hill. Alex looked around. It was early evening, because although it was nine hours since they left the school in England, there was a five hour time difference in New York.

They were at the foot of a grassy hill, with a huge tree at the top of it. In the distance she could see a large farmhouse, surrounded by fields and bordered with forest. The sky was still a lovely pale blue, with the sun low in the sky, peeping out from fluffy clouds. As they walked up the hill Alex could hear laughing and shouting, mixed with the sounds of running, galloping and breathless cheers.

"Where are we?" she panted when they reached the top of the hill.

"We are on Half-blood Hill."

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**Dun dun dun! What do you think? Please review! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's Chapter 4. They've arrived at Camp Half-Blood! Please R&R. :-)**

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**Chapter 4 **

_Hark, hark! The God does play!_

_And as he leads the way_

_Through heaven to the very spheres_

_As men, turn all to ears!_

Hestia led the way up the hill, with Lucy running behind her, her face flushed with excitement.

"So what is this place?" asked Alex, shading her eyes as she plodded up the slope.

"Camp Half-Blood, where all half-bloods get trained up for fighting monsters and going on quests! It's got cabins for children of each God to sleep in, and it's not too far from Olympus. Do you know where Olympus is?" asked Lucy happily.

"Er... Greece?" Alex answered, looking around in expectation.

"No, it's in Manhattan! Floor 300 of the Empire State Building." Lucy told her with satisfaction.

"W-what?" Alex stuttered. She hadn't really wrapped her mind around what was happening. The Greek Gods in America! And apparently, she was the daughter of some God. It seemed impossible, but somehow it was plausible, with everything that had happened to her. She had some bad distant memories she'd never been sure were real or not. Mostly she'd assumed they were nightmares. But perhaps they _were_ real...

They reached the tree at the crest of the hill. Draped over one of its branches was some thick golden material, shimmering in the afternoon sun.

"What's that?" asked Helen.

"The golden fleece, the magic of which protects Camp Half-Blood," Hestia replied, walking over the invisible magical barriers.

Suddenly a large shape crawled up towards them on reptile legs. A long tail dragged gently on the ground behind it, and there were grey folded wings on the slim scaled body. Lucy grinned.

"Peleus the dragon!" she stroked it under the chin carefully. Helen watched him warily, and Alex stared, horrified.

"It's a dragon?!" she asked in shock, not knowing what to think of the long serpentine creature, settling down around the pine tree.

"He's here to keep everything safe. He wouldn't harm you," Hestia assured her, smiling. Alex nodded, trying to keep calm. She looked down at the camp.

The view down into the valley was beautiful. Alex could see the cabins, the big farmhouse, the woods, the lake, the strawberry fields, and not too far away the beach. There were amphitheatres and great Greek-style buildings, along with equipment you'd expect to see in some kind of adventure-park. It all had a somehow different feel to it. As far as the eye could see in both directions there were farms, but they just looked ordinary, with greyish green grass and worn little farmhouses. Camp Half-Blood seemed fresher, better-kept.

Down near the forest, there were children and teenagers running around, shouting, and there was the sound of metal banging and clanging, but Alex couldn't make out what they were doing. She kept going down the hill.

"Hello!" said a cheery voice from behind. Alex turned in surprise and almost fell over when she saw where the voice came from. It was a brown haired man, with a longish greying beard and hairy muscular arms. But from the waist down, he was a horse! He had a dark brown horse's behind, tail, legs and hooves!

He trotted over to the large porch at the front of the house where a small but slightly plump man was sitting eating grapes. He had curly coal-black hair, bloodshot eyes and a red nose. There was a huge bunch grapes on the table, next to the cards the man was shuffling.

"You must be Helen and Lucy," said the horse-man. It sounded as if he'd been expecting them. "Welcome at last! So you are Alex," he guessed. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. The campers were just playing Capture-the-Flag." He looked over to the groups of chatting campers, who had just finished.

"I am Chiron, the Activities Director. Mr D." he nodded to the grape-eating guy, "is the Camp Director. If you like Jonathon here will give you a quick tour. Dinner will be in half an hour."

Mr D. smiled unconvincingly at the girls, and then at Hestia, before turning back to his cards. "Want to play pinochle, Chiron?"

Jonathon led Lucy, Helen and Alex away. Hestia kissed her daughters, and then wandered off across the camp.

"Hi," Jonathon grinned, leading the way towards the cabins they'd seen from the hill. "I'm Jon. You two," he looked at Helen and Lucy, "will sleep in the Hestia cabin, here. You're the only ones right now. Alex will sleep in cabin 11, the Hermes cabin, until you know your parent. That's where all the undetermined kids go." He pointed to it, and then quickly helped Helen with her things, chatting as he opened the door for her and Lucy, leaving Alex alone outside the cabins with her bag. They were arranged just next to the lake, about 30 of them in all, in different colours and designs with varying amounts of lived-in ness. There were a couple that looked empty.

Opening the Hermes cabin door, Alex was surprised to find it full with people already. Laughing, shouting and talking hit her when she walked in, and her head hurt, she was so tired.

She looked around, wondering what to do. "Hey, are you new?" called an amused voice. Alex found it came from a grinning teenager with a pointed nose and long black hair loose down her back. She was holding a note book full of what Alex presumed was ancient Greek. "I'm Kate. Welcome to the Hermes Cabin!" She was lounging on a sleeping bag, on the carpet right by the door. The cabin was so packed beds were rolled out all over the floor.

Kate helped Alex lay out a bed, glancing nosily in the suitcase as she put it down.

"Thanks," Alex muttered, plonking herself down. It wasn't very comfortable.

"Are you English?" Kate asked, curious.

"Um, yeah. I've come here with Helen and Lucy, they're English too." Alex rubbed her eyes; exhausted from the journey and all the things she'd been told. Greek Gods in 21st century New York!

Kate laughed. "We've got this French guy here, but nobody English!"

There was a knock on the door. "Alex?" called Jonathon, poking his head round the door. "I've got to take you on the tour." Alex stood up and looked at her cabin. At the back there were people messing around and fighting over what looked like a pillow, and closer to the door they were sitting down, chatting loudly.

"Ooh, I'll come!" Kate offered, eager to get to know the new English campers.

So Helen, Lucy and Alex were shown around by the two more experienced campers, both joking and telling stories about some of the things that have happened at Camp.

"Here's the armoury, and the arena where we hold sword and spear fights." Jonathon explained. In the fighting arena there were four people wearing orangeCAMP HALF BLOOD t-shirts, practising sword fighting skills. There was a girl with long curly blonde hair fighting a guy with sandy coloured hair and green eyes. They looked about 17. The other fighters were a scrawny 17 year old with messy black hair and sea green eyes, and an older muscular girl smacking her heavy sword so fast against her opponent's you could barely see it.

"Wow..." Lucy breathed, watching in awe.

"That's Percy and Clarisse, and Annabeth and Kai," Kate said, pointing. "Percy and Kai are sons of Poseidon, Annabeth's a child of Athena, and Clarisse is a daughter of Ares. They've been at Camp Half-Blood for ages, longer than nearly everyone else."

"Really? Ares... That's why she's so good at fighting," Alex decided. She thought about who her parent could be, but then told herself it wasn't possible to have a Greek God as a parent.

"Has anyone explained it all to you?" Kate asked as the fighters finished. Clarisse had won her battle easily, and Kai had won just about his.

"Yes but... My mum was a painter, I think, but she died in a car crash just after she had me. And my dad just left after that. I don't have any other family, but they don't sound like Gods, do they?" said Alex. She was watching the campers putting their swords and shields away, taking off their light armour and cooling off. She was sure she'd never be able to fight with something as big as the swords they had been using.

"Well," Kate muttered. "That's what happened to me. I didn't know about Hermes being my father till 6 months ago. But you must be a half-blood – you got over the magical barriers, you fought monsters. And I bet you're ADHD, dyslexic, have some trouble in school. You're demigod, and there's nothing you can do about it." She grinned. "Come on, it's almost dinner. Let's go to the mess hall!" She laughed as a tall boy of about 13 ran over and babbled to her about something to do with the Capture-the-Flag thing they'd done. Alex felt a little left out. "That was Toby," Kate explained. "He's in our cabin."

They walked over to an open air pavilion over looking the sea. It was filled with picnic tables.

"Er... this is where we eat?" Alex asked. Kate nodded, grinning. "Even in winter?" There was another nod. Suddenly a horn blew in the distance – a conch shell to call everyone to dinner.

"Where're you sitting?" Alex whispered.

"We have to sit in our cabins. You're sticking with me for now!"

A loud voice interrupted them. "Cabin eleven, over here!" A Hermes kid, around 19, was yelling at them. He had longish brown hair that almost covered his eyes, and wore a bright orange camp top and blue jeans with pockets full of paper, toys, food and other weird things but Alex had no idea what they were.

Kate dragged her into line. "He's Josh. The oldest guy in our cabin, he's basically the boss."

They sat down at the table, about 20 of them, with Alex hanging off an end next to Kate. She seemed to be friends with everyone.

"You can't trust her though, Alex. You never know when she's being honest!" a ginger boy from the Athena table joked. Kate shrugged as if it was true. Alex's mouth dropped open.

"What is it?" Kate asked, looking behind her. Some of the strangest things Alex had ever seen were coming towards the eating pavilion. People with the legs and hooves of goats, people that seemed to come out of the trunks of trees and up from the grass, people that hopped out of the lake, all were walking towards them.

"What are they?" she muttered.

Kate scratched her head. "Naiads, satyrs and wood nymphs, mostly. They're all campers too."

There were approximately 180 campers all in all, not including others like Mr D, Chiron and Hestia. Each had a table to themselves; some overcrowded, like the Hermes table, some only with a couple of campers.

"What does Mr D. stand for?" Alex whispered. The pavilion had started to go quiet, and Chiron trotted to the front and stamped his hooves. Kate put a finger to her lips.

Chiron raised a glass. "To the Gods of Olympus!"

"To the Gods of Olympus!" everyone chorused, raising their glasses in a toast. Food was brought forward by the wood nymphs and naiads, who would drop a few plates off on one table and then go to the next. The Hermes' table had a plate extra.

"There aren't too many extra people in our cabin, since the Gods made an oath to claim all their kids. It won't last too long, though. There's Jaycie, over there, who's 16 and still undetermined. But oh well, let's eat!" Kate said, eagerly grabbing sausages and chips. Alex laughed. "I'm having salad as well!" Kate protested.

"Come on," she said, getting up and taking her plate towards the fire in the middle of the amphitheatre. Most of the campers were doing the same. Alex watched as each person scraped a portion of their meal into the fire, bowing and saying a God's name. Now it was her turn, and she didn't know what to say. She blushed.

"The Gods," she said, pushing some chicken into the flames. The smoke smelled wonderful. Even when she sat down again, the smell was wafting around the table.

"So, we've got a new camper, have we?" said a voice at her ear. Alex turned around in surprise to see a girl with long blonde hair and pink make up scrutinizing her. A daughter of Aphrodite, Alex guessed. She was starting to get to grips with everything. A bit.

"Yes Louise, we have," Kate said, staring irritably at her. It seemed as if Louise was one of Kate's few enemies.

Another Aphrodite girl, with pretty curled hair, long eyelashes and a doll-like face swivelled round. "Ooh, what's your name?" Her voice was high-pitched and girly. She wore her own design of the CAMP HALF BLOOD t-shirt, like many of the other Aphrodite campers.

"Um, I'm Alex..." she started nervously, giving up her attempts to eat her dinner.

"You're English!" she exclaimed, smiling sweetly. "Where exactly are you from?"

Alex looked down, going red. "South London." The girl, called Susie, smiled again and went back to her food.

Yawning Alex started on her own meal and looked around the crowded table for a jug to fill her glass.

"You just say whatever you want to drink and the glass fills with it," a helpful camper nearby explained.

She thought for a moment. "Lemonade." Immediately the cup filled with the fizzy liquid. Raising her eyebrows, she tasted it.

"Kate," Alex said. The camper looked up. "Is Chiron like _the _Chiron from mythology?"

"Oh yes," she grinned mischievously. "He's very old." Just then the centaur stamped his hooves to get attention. "Speak of the devil," Kate muttered. A few people giggled.

Mr D stood up. "Chiron told me to stand up and say "Good Evening"." he sighed. "So, children, good evening. The Capture-the-Flag game was won, quite irrelevantly, by the Nemesis Cabin. Also, as I'm sure most of you know, we have three new campers, Helen, Lucy and Alex. And one more thing: the Capture-the-Flag will be held in ten days. A week later it will be Chariot Racing. Ah well." He sat down at his table, where a few similar-looking campers – presumably his children – were eating.

Alex finished her dinner, with plenty of chocolate cake for dessert. After that everyone gathered round a camp fire, toasting marshmallows and singing strange songs Alex had never heard before.

"This is quite cool really," she murmured, munching on marshmallows as Kate danced around the campfire.

"You bet." Kate grinned, throwing a marshmallow at her. Then she gasped. "Whoa!" The other campers all stared at Alex.

"What?" She was glowing yellow, and glancing up, she saw, shimmering in the air above her head, a fading yellow sun.

"The sign of Apollo," someone breathed.

* * *

**So, did I get the characters right? Didn't I? Review and tell me! You know you want to...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

_Rain lashed down hard on the small helpless form_

_Deadly waves dragged it to the shore of the sea_

_An icy laugh rang out in the angry storm_

_And fierce lightning bolts struck the tall pine tree_

When dawn arrived, Alex woke and stared at the pale yellow ceiling, heart pounding as she listened to the breathing of everyone around her. Someone snored.

She was the only one awake in the Apollo cabin, and it was almost 7am.

"Uh..." she sighed, wishing she could have stayed in cabin 11. Yes, it was crowded, but Alex at least had a friend in there. Kate. Jonathon was a son of Apollo, but she barely knew him; when he'd shown her around, he had been talking to Helen and Lucy, not her.

Suddenly she remembered why she had been moved – because her father Apollo, _God _of the sun, had acknowledged her. She was the daughter of a Greek God! She didn't know if she should be happy, scared or confused. To be honest she felt a little bit of all three.

Someone yawned underneath her. Alex was on the top of a bunk bed – that was one good thing, not being on the floor – and a camper named Carla (her half sister!) was sleeping on the bottom.

Within minutes everybody else was waking up. There were about a dozen children of Apollo, and now they were all getting changed, yawning and chatting quietly. One by one, they left the cabin.

"You okay, British Girl?" asked Carla as she left. Alex nodded, lying back down. She was tired.

-----

After breakfast Kate showed Alex to the armoury. From the outside it looked like any old wooden farm hut, but inside the walls were lined with weaponry. The morning sunshine streamed in through a window, lighting up a large box labelled "Chain mail". It was a long hut, with so many different types of weapons Alex didn't know where to start.

"Okay, you need a sword and a shield. That'll do for now," Kate said, picking up a celestial bronze sword and handing it over.

Alex took it carefully, surprised of its weight. "Um... this is too heavy. Do _you_ have a sword?" She put that one back and tried out some others.

Kate passed across a black handled sword with a serrated edge. "Look at this one! And yeah, I have a blue shield, a bronze sword and this thing that looks like an iPod, but when you press a button a blade pops out. It's quite cool; I use it as a dagger."

"Wow," said Alex, while looking worriedly at a particularly sharp sword. "Where'd you get it from?"

Kate blushed. "Well, I found it," she said, innocently examining a rusting sword.

"Found it?" Alex asked sceptically, and Kate grinned mischievously.

"I found it somewhere," she explained, and held up another sword. "What do you think about this?"

"I think you stole it!" Alex answered, smiling ruefully.

"Daughter of Hermes!" Kate protested. "It's my nature!"

"So, um, Kate," Alex began after a moment's silence. "Why do I need a sword?"

Kate picked up a sword and started fighting an imaginary opponent. "You need to learn to fight, to defend yourself. Our scent attracts monsters, and they can't get you here, but if you go on a quest you'll be attacked. So, Chiron and Percy and Josh and people like that have to teach you. But, anyways. Tell me about yourself!" She put down her sword and sat on the edge of a box of armour.

Alex blinked. "This is so weird! Monsters can _smell_ us? Oh great... Um, well, anyway, I'm Alexandra Cheshire, but _please_ don't call me that! Everyone calls me Alex. As you know, I'm 5 foot 4 with long red hair and blue eyes, and I'm 14 years old. I come from South London and I was brought up by my foster parents - Julie and Ben. My real father is Apollo, and that's pretty much it really. I'm not very interesting."

Kate laughed. "You're not very interesting? Anyways, about me. I'm Kate Nicole Barker and I'm 5 foot 1 - shorter than practically _everyone_! I come from LA, used to live with my mum, her boyfriend Dave and my half-brother Tony. He thinks I'm at some boarding school, 'cause my mum isn't telling him about me. She knows of course. I've been at Camp Half-Blood since Ash, the satyr, who was at my school, took me here six months ago. I'll be 15 on 1st September and my favourite camp activity is Capture-the-Flag. It's really fun, you'll love it... Oh wow, look at this sword!" She gave a large bronze sword with a jewelled handle to Alex.

"Whoa!" Alex almost dropped it. "Much too heavy."

"This is lighter," Kate held up another one. The blade was thinner, but deadly sharp. Alex passed it from hand to hand, weighing it out. It had a gold hilt - gold like the sun.

She smiled. "Yeah."

Kate grinned. "Finally! Okay, now we need to get you a shield. _Shouldn't_ be difficult! Here, look at this..."

In the practise arena, Alex was challenged first by Kate and then Josh. He was 19, a tall, muscular camper with a mop of brown hair covering his blue eyes and large mouth. He looked like the kind of guy you wouldn't want to cross, and Alex thought he looked like he would be good as a wrestler.

"No, you're holding it wrong!" he shouted, walking over to Alex and adjusting her hands on the sword. Alex noticed a long white scar on one of his tanned arms. "Okay, that's alright now. If you block like this..." He took her though a series of different movements, showing her how she should attack, disarm, parry and thrust. He talked quickly and with authority, and Alex walked away hoping she would manage to actually beat someone now.

"Are you one of the new campers?" asked a boy a little taller than her. He had sand-coloured hair and sea-green eyes, and she recognised him from the previous day's tour. "I'm Kai," he said.

"Um, yes, I'm Alex," she answered, nervously avoiding his penetrating green eyes.

"And you're British?" he asked, starting to smile.

Alex blushed. "Obviously," she muttered. _Why does everyone find that funny?_ she thought irritatedly.

He laughed, dragging his sword up and getting his shield. "Would you like to fight?"

Alex rolled her eyes. "Okay then."

Kai went easy on her at first, but soon she was struggling to stop each blow and within a minute he had won.

"Not bad," he told Alex as she retrieved her sword. She went red.

Kate walked towards her, leading along an older Hermes camper. Alex remembered him from when she had sat on the Hermes table; a loud, talkative teenager with kleptomaniac tendencies.

"Okay dearie, this is my half brother Travis Stoll. Travis, Alex. Alex, Travis. There you go. Have a nice little fight, and don't hurt her! I'm going to get a drink. See you in a minute!" Kate left them, and Travis laughed. He unsheathed his sword and smiled.

"Apparently you're British," he said. Alex scowled and attacked, and Travis knocked her sword away after a few seconds. "Don't take it personally!" he said as he walked away.

Next Alex was approached by an Ares girl called Lucy. She quickly defeated Alex and left her with a bruised leg.

"She gets teased for being called "Lucy" by her brothers and sisters," Kate mentioned when Lucy had gone.

Alex frowned. "Why?"

"Well it's not exactly a warlike name, is it?" Kate rolled her eyes. "You're okay at fighting, though. Just need practise." Alex smiled gratefully as she wiped dirt off her sword, silently cursing how useless she was.

"Now there's two Lucy's," she noted, nodding at the little Lucy fighting her sister with a bronze dagger. Alex wandered over to the Hestia sisters as Helen knocked the knife out of Lucy's hands.

"Oh!" Lucy moaned.

"Don't worry," one of the spectators said. "You're quite good really!" Most of the Aphrodite girls thought Lucy was really cute, and had taken to calling her "English Lucy". To avoid confusion with "the Ares one", Susie had said.

Carrying her sword and shield, Alex limped over to Helen. She'd bruised her leg fighting the Ares Lucy.

"You were quite good," Alex said to her, leaning against the wall of the armoury.

Helen looked up from her bronze sword. "Thanks," she smiled at the compliment. "It's not a natural skill, being a child of Hestia. She's a peacemaker, really. Did you know she gave up her Olympian throne for Mr D to avoid argument?"

Alex raised her eyebrows. "Mr D is Dionysus? I learnt about it at school, but I didn't realise that was Mr D!" Helen nodded. Alex leaned backwards, tired, and wishing she had taken up fencing at her old school. Maybe then she would be a little bit better at sword fighting.

"Anyone wanna fight?" a deep rough voice yelled, interrupting Alex's thoughts.

She stood up. "Erm, I will!"

"I'm Greg," he told her, spitting aggressively on the ground. "Wanna be smashed to a pulp?" Alex scowled, wishing she hadn't offered to fight.

"My name's Alex," she said calmly, circling him. She hoped this wouldn't be yet another defeat, but looking at Greg, her chances weren't too high. He started attacking straight away, throwing insults at her. Her arm shook with pain as she held the shield, stopping each blow.

"My name's Alex!" he taunted, imitating her accent. "And I can't fight 'cause I'm English!" Alex bit her lip, sweating hard but ignoring him as she concentrated, slashing with her sword like Josh had done. "Limey! Stupid, ugly Brit! Apollo's not gonna save you now girlie! Not that he could. No wonder you can't fight to save your life!" Greg was out of breath but still brushing her stabs away with no visible effort. He grinned and showed missing teeth.

Alex lunged furiously, the sun on her back. She smacked her sword against his, knocking it violently out of his hand. It spun dangerously on the ground, the blade scratched. "You sure about that?" she asked. The son of Ares grabbed his sword and headed for a shower angrily. Alex watched, panting. She wondered how she had managed that.

"That was good," said a voice. Alex turned in surprise. The voice came from a tall blonde girl she remembered from yesterday.

"I'm Annabeth," the girl told her. Alex nodded, trying not to pant. "This is Percy," Annabeth looked expectantly at the boy Alex had heard so much about, who smiled awkwardly. "This is Ash." The satyr grinned, revealing large white teeth.

"And I'm Nico di Angelo," a lean, pale camper with black hair and dark eyes nodded at her. His skin was pale yellow and he had dark rings under his eyes.

"A-Alex," she replied nervously, still out of breath. Kate had been telling her about Percy and Annabeth's adventures, with Kronos and the titans. Her Greek history was quite good but she still was not entirely sure what had happened in the year before she came.

"Put your sword down, British Girl. You're climbing the wall!" Carla said, breezing in and taking Alex by the arm.

Ash saluted her. "Well - see you around," he smiled and trotted away.

"Brace yourself," muttered Annabeth. Alex took one more look at the fighting arena, where English Lucy was surrounded by a group of girls listening to her stories. Then she took a deep breath and headed for the climbing wall.

-----

After lunch they had free time so Alex took her notebook and sat alone by the lake. It was quiet and peaceful as she sketched the blue water, the birds and the flowers. A naiad came up to talk to her.

A few minutes later she was writing when a gruff voice behind her made her jump.

"What have we here?" said Greg, sniggering with the camper next to him. The two of them stood between two trees, looking almost identical with their nasty expressions. Suddenly Greg grabbed Alex's notebook from her hands.

"Give it back!" she snapped, jumping up.

"Ooh, give it back!" he mimicked. His companion laughed. "Now what does this say?" He squinted at a page in the notebook.

"Stop it!" Alex demanded, trying to snatch the notebook back. Greg held it out of her reach.

"The air was cold and the night was, er, dark. What kind of person writes this in their..."

Alex kicked him in the knee. "Just give it back!"

Greg turned round furiously. "Don't kick me!" he shouted. He threw the notebook on the ground and stamped on it. "Useless, stupid, stinkin' Brit!" The other camper was giggling helplessly while Greg picked the notebook up and made to throw it.

"Stop it!" ordered Kai, stepping out of the trees. Alex looked at him in surprise.

"Ooh Kai, what you gonna do? Splash us?" Greg mocked, laughing bitterly .

Kai closed his eyes. "If you insist," he muttered, and a wave splashed up from the lake and drenched the Ares boys. Alex watched in awe.

"Ugh!" shouted one of them, and Greg threw the notebook back at Alex before running out, rather undignified.

Alex picked her damp notebook up, not sure what to say. "Uh, thanks," she said. "How did you do that?"

Kai looked down, embarrassed. "I'm son of the Sea God. I can do things like that. But, um, anyways, you should probably go back now. It's 2.00." Alex nodded and he went red. They walked back to the cabins in an uncomfortable silence.

For the rest of the day Alex found herself blushing whenever she saw Kai. When she saw Greg, however, she tried not to look at him. He gave her evil looks from the other side of camp.

_I wish I never came here, _she thought to herself. _Or why can't there be a Camp Half Blood in Britain?_ she reasoned, miserably avoiding Greg's eye.

-----

"So, how'd you like your first full day at Camp Half-Blood?" asked Kate at the sing-a-long that evening. Once again they were toasting marshmallows, after an eventful day getting humiliated sword fighting, singed on the climbing wall, and embarrassed attempting Pegasus riding. She had also tried her hand at archery, and to her surprise managed several bulls' eyes. The excursion with Greg and Kai was almost forgotten.

"Oh, it was okay, despite the fact the only thing I'm any good at is archery!" Alex said, happily munching a hot dog and staring into the flames. She wondered where Hestia was; she had not seen her since dinner the night before.

"Yeah! It was _so _funny when you fell off the Pegasus!" Kate laughed. Alex threw a marshmallow at her. "Oy! You did manage to beat Greg, though. That was cool. The look on his face!"

The two girls laughed as they started singing a camp song, a round, with different parts about different Gods. It got faster and faster until Alex decided to give up and just listen, cracking up at Kate changing all the words.

When she went to bed Alex was still smiling. Camp Half-Blood wasn't so bad really, she thought.

* * *

**Thank you for reading! Please tell me what you think of my OCs, and also Rick Riordan's characters. If you like it, please tell me! If you don't, tell me how to improve! :^)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan, etc, etc.

**A/N:** Hello people! Sorry to my many *ahem* many reviewers for the long wait! :)) Anyway, please, please, read and review. You know you want to!

* * *

**Chapter Six**

_There's one thing I ask, hope and pray,  
it's that these nightmares will finally go away  
and leave me be so I can sleep in peace,  
but for now I'll not rest until they cease_

_

* * *

_

All was quiet and calm. The girl was sound asleep in bed, contently dreaming of faraway lands and magical creatures. But suddenly she woke. Irrationally scared, she pulled her knees to her chest and tightly closed her eyes. For several long minutes, all was silent, but it definitely did not feel calm. Heart pounding, the girl peeped between her eyelashes. It was pitch black, but she thought she saw something move. It could have been her imagination. For a moment she felt something like a cold hand against hers, but only for a moment. Was that real? She didn't know. But a minute later, she was grabbed from behind.

"AAH!! AAH!" she screamed with all her might, but nobody woke. It was as if no one could hear her. Ice-cold fingers brushed against her face. They held her shoulders firmly and dragged her across the ground. "Leave me alone! Help me, somebody! Help!!" Her shrieks seemed to make no difference at all. Those cold hands pulled her through the moonlight to a forest. It was so dark, so freezing, so terrifying. But then she saw the face of her captive, lit up by the moonlight. "AAAH!!"

* * *

Rachel Elizabeth Dare sat straight up in bed, shaking. Something was wrong, she knew it. Quickly she pulled on some jeans, a t-shirt and a pair of trainers. Grabbing a jacket, Rachel noticed the time: 4.35 am.

"Oh well," she muttered, creeping down through the big house and making her way outside. The wind blew at her tangled hair, but she continued to hurry towards the cabins. Pushing her hair out her eyes, she knocked on the cabin door. There was no reply, as she expected. Taking a deep breath she shoved the door open.

"Percy!" she called. There was a pause. Rachel looked around the Poseidon cabin in surprise. It had changed so much it was barely recognizable – in the year Rachel had been at school three new campers had arrived, so now the little hut held five people. Rachel recognized the large shape of Tyson in the nearest bunk. Above him there was a girl she hadn't met and in the next bed she noticed the sandy hair of Kai, whom Rachel had met when she arrived. There was one more bunk at the back beside a small water fountain where she knew Percy must be.

"Percy?" There was a small rustle, and then a muffled voice asked, "What do you want?" Before Rachel could reply, she heard a girl say, "Go back to sleep."

Rachel sighed. "Percy, get up. It's me, Rachel! I need to talk to you." She strolled over to Percy's bunk and pulled the covers off both beds.

"Oy!" cried out the boy on the bottom. "Annabeth?" mumbled the other.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Get out of bed, Seaweed Brain."

Percy rolled over and climbed down, yawning. "What do you want?"

"Just come outside," she ordered. They stood outside in silence as Rachel looked uncomfortably at Percy in his pyjamas.

"Er, Percy," Rachel began after a moment. "We need to talk. I've been having these dreams; they're the real reason I'm here. I think the great prophecy, you know, the one from last year, I think it's started."

Percy hid a yawn behind his hand. "How do you know?"

"I just do!" she said, shivering slightly in the cold. "And the seven from the prophecy, I don't know who they are, but it's not you or Annabeth. You've had your time, and your time will come again, but not now. It's someone else. And, well, out of the seven –"

"Did you wake me so early just to say this?" Percy interrupted grumpily.

"No! It's because I had this dream, and... Well, something bad's happening, I'm sure of it. I just have this feeling. But Percy, there's something else–" Rachel was cut off by the sound of a door slamming. She and Percy turned in surprise and saw one of the new campers, Helen, standing outside her cabin worriedly.

The girl looked uncertainly at them.

"Hello," said Percy sleepily, suppressing another yawn.

Helen looked around nervously. "Um, have either of you seen my little sister Lucy?" she asked, jumbling her words out in a rush. Percy and Rachel shook their heads apologetically. "I-I don't know where she is! I woke up, and, and she's not in the cabin. I checked everywhere, and I know she wouldn't go out alone because she hates being on her own."

Rachel and Percy looked at each other. "Uh, don't worry. We'll take you to Chiron and he'll know what to do," Percy said helpfully. He looked at Rachel, who shrugged and started walking in the direction of the Big House.

On the way Helen hesitantly explained how Hestia was her mother and how she and Lucy had just arrived at Camp Half Blood. Rachel barely listened, though, because she was preoccupied with her thoughts. Percy tried his best to concentrate, but he had only had about 5 hours sleep and was struggling to keep his eyes open. As they passed the lake Helen glimpsed merpeople and nymphs splashing quietly at the other bank. A bird sang gently above them while they made their way to the House. Everything was calm and serene, but Rachel was still convinced something was wrong.

They reached the porch of the Big House. Helen hesitated. "What do we say?"

"I'll do the talking," Rachel assured her, opening the front door which she'd accidentally left unlocked. Percy and Helen followed her through the dark house. When they were upstairs, Rachel turned to Helen. "You're absolutely sure she's not just gone for a morning walk or something?"

Helen nodded. "She hates going anywhere on her own."

"Okay," Rachel said. She cleared her throat, and shouted, "Chiron!"

Everything went silent, and Rachel thought about shouting again, but then she heard the clip-clops of Chiron's hooves crossing the floor in a room close by.

"Who's there?" he asked.

"It's Rachel," Rachel replied. Helen worriedly twirled her hair in her fingers and glanced at her watch, hoping Lucy was just being silly or was with their mum Hestia.

A big oak door to their right creaked open and Chiron trotted out towards them. "What's wrong?" he asked, his eyes on Helen.

They all went silent. Helen blushed. "I-I'm a bit worried about my sister!" she said, her eyes fixed on the floor. She was shy at the best of times, and right then she was so nervous thinking about her little sister. Being a protective sister might be nice for the protected sibling, but it was not any fun for Helen. "She's gone missing."

Chiron stretched his arms and kicked each leg out, obviously stiff from the previous day. "Do you know any where she would have gone?" he asked when he had finished.

"Lucy hates going anywhere alone, especially when it's dark," Helen answered quietly, wishing with all her heart she was sound asleep in front of the fire place, with Lucy curled up beside her.

Chiron nodded. "And just say someone had kidnapped her – not that they have, but imagine it for a moment – someone kidnaps her, but she manages to escape, run away and hide somewhere. Is there anywhere here at Camp Half Blood she would be likely to hide?"

Frowning, Helen thought about it. "In the cabins, or near the buildings, probably." She sighed. "I'm not sure really."

"Okay..." murmured Chiron, after a pause. "You go back to your cabin," he said to Helen. "You need to sleep. We'll sort this out – don't worry." Helen nodded and left, the floorboards creaking gently beneath her. The centaur watched her with concern. Rachel and Percy had listened to all this with interest.

"What about us? We're tired!" complained Percy when she had gone, rubbing sleep from his eyes as if to prove his point.

"Helen looked as if she was going to collapse from tiredness. Anyway, I have a feeling tomorrow will be a long day for her." Chiron answered. "We had better check around the camp in case Lucy has just wandered off in her sleep." Rachel could tell from his voice he did not think it was very likely._ Perhaps he has another reason_, she thought.

The three set off around Camp Half Blood. It was nearly deserted; only the very early risers were up at this time. Most campers stayed in the cabins until breakfast.

At the lake Chiron, Percy and Rachel paused to watch the merpeople, nymphs and naiads splashing around. The sun began to rise, making the water shine and silhouetting the creatures of the lake. Again Rachel noticed how peaceful and serene everything seemed, but she knew very well it was not. The sky had turned a beautiful shade of amber, with few pale yellow clouds obscuring the dawn sky. She gazed into the glow, calm even when she thought of the dreams she had been having lately.

"Let's go," Chiron spoke gently as if he did not want to disturb the tranquillity of the morning. They passed the fighting arena, where Josh and Clarisse were furiously fighting each other. Rachel saw the hatred on each face; these were not just friends practising sword play, they were enemies trying to prove something to each other.

They walked on to the edge of the forest, where the woodland and mythical creatures were just waking up. A thrush flapped its wings in the branches of a nearby tree. Percy yawned.

"Chiron, you know the great prophecy," said Rachel, breaking the silence. None of them had spoken as they circulated the camp; Rachel and Chiron had lots going through their minds, while Percy was still struggling to stay awake. "Well, it's about to happen, I know it is. I've been having bad dreams all year – dreams about what happened with Kronos, dreams about Prometheus, and lots of dreams about this prophecy. I know it's happening now." Chiron nodded wearily. He did not seem surprised. In the year since his father Kronos' attempt at rising, there had been a lot of tension among the other titan gods, and there were rumours that many were planning revenge on the Olympian Gods. _As if Kronos inspired them to overthrow us_, Chiron thought, closing his eyes in an effort to clear his headache.

Rachel spoke, distracting the centaur from his thoughts. "I was having a dream where this girl was screaming. She screamed and screamed, but no one heard. This being, I don't know what it was, but it dragged her to the forest. It looked a bit like the forest here, but somehow it seemed different. I don't know, it was only a dream. But then I woke up, and I was really scared. I felt like something bad was happening, so I woke Percy. Then Helen came out."Chiron frowned.

"Have you ever met Lucy?" asked Percy. Rachel turned round, surprised – she had not thought Percy was paying any attention.

"Um, no. I know what you're thinking – it could have been Lucy. Well, maybe it was. I really don't know."

They continued walking – or trotting in Chiron's case – back to the cabins. Percy seemed to have woken up, and started filling Rachel in with some of the things that had happened while she spent a year at finishing school.

"I've been anticipating something like this," said Chiron when Percy paused for breath. "Since last summer all the Titan gods have been gathering power. I think Lucy could be part of some bigger plan. Not that I know anything for sure, but it's possible. Maybe you're right and the prophecy will soon come true. What was it - the seven half bloods answering a call? Maybe that will happen."

"Oh, and Chiron, there's something important I forgot to tell you." Rachel looked up at him nervously. Chiron glanced down at her.

"Well, there's seven half-bloods going, but-" Rachel was interrupted by the blast of a horn coming from the direction of the forest. "What's that?"

They watched as the red Aphrodite cabin door was pushed gently open, and out came Susie, her eyes wide but unseeing. Shoulders slumped, she walked in jagged steps to the centre of the circle of cabins. The horn sounded again, and the Hermes door opened. Jonathon emerged, saliva dripping from his chin. And then another cabin door opened; the Poseidon cabin. Kai stepped out. Percy watched in bewilderment.

"One, two, three, four, five, six," Rachel counted under her breath. "Where's the seventh?" The Hestia cabin door creaked loudly, and Helen sleepily walked to the others. "Seven." They heard the horn one last time, and then the seven campers standing together seemed to wake up. By this time everybody else had gathered round, staring as if in a trance.

"Oh my gods, what's happening?" Annabeth asked, running over to where Percy, Rachel and Chiron were standing. Suddenly it was as though the spell was broken, and everything was really noisy as the campers began talking loudly, asking each other if they knew what had happened.

"Oh, just be quiet!" yelled Mr D. At his voice the din suddenly died down. Rachel had not even noticed him arrive.

Chiron smiled slightly at Mr D, then turned back to the campers. "Everyone go back to your cabins – breakfast will be a bit late this morning. I think you seven ought to come in the Big House. We have some things to talk about."

* * *

**A/N:** Ooh... what do you think? Do you like it? Do you hate it? Tell me!

I live off reviews. :P


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N Thank you to Damsel and C00kiegirl for your nice reviews! Sorry for the kind of slow update people. Anyway please R&R!! :D**

**Chapter Seven**

_Whispered warnings, valued verses_

_Unanswerable, strange, a riddle_

_What are those words, those spells, those curses?_

_But all we can do is wait and watch,_

_Wait and watch for the prophecy._

Alex felt disorientated. She was not sure what was happening at all when she woke up, standing outside amongst what seemed like a huge crowd, and everyone around her started shouting. Someone, she was not sure who, had led her into the Big House, and now she was sitting at a large table she had never seen before, trying to listen to what was being said.

"-prophecy. It was:

_Seven half-bloods shall answer the call_

_To storm or fire the world must fall_

_An oath to keep with a final breath_

_And foes bear arms to the doors of death. _So we think-" A cup of coffee was plonked in front of Alex. She smiled gratefully. Taking a sip, she looked around her. Nico – Helen – Jonathon – Kate – Susie – Kai – and herself. That made seven, like in the prophecy.

"But Chiron, what about the sleep walking? How did that happen?" That was Kai's voice, from the other side of the table where Percy was sitting. Suddenly he noticed Alex's stare. She blushed bright red.

"Oh, I expect that was Morpheus, god of dreams. He could easily manage something like that." Chiron replied in a matter-of-fact voice.

Percy, in his seat beside Kai and Chiron, frowned. "But I thought Morpheus was an Olympian God!"

"Well yes," Chiron nodded. "But for years now he has seemed to favour the Titans. I'm afraid he would happily work for any of them." For a while nobody spoke. Percy, Annabeth and Rachel watched Chiron as his eyes went from one of the seven to the next. Mr D leaned backwards in his chair, drinking coffee as though nothing had happened.

"So, do we have to go on a quest?" asked Susie from the Aphrodite cabin. She was still wearing pyjamas, but her blonde hair was neatly plaited and clipped perfectly in place.

"Yes, the-" Chiron began to answer, but suddenly the room had gone cold. A thin green mist filled the room, and all eyes were on Rachel. She rose from her seat, her own eyes like dark, ancient pits. The green fog swirled around her. It seemed to come from her mouth.

"_When the call has happened," _she rasped, the sound like a thousand voices, hoarse but loud and clear. The words echoed around the room. "_The seven are here, _

_A captive will be taken,_

_Then the dead we shall fear." _

The room cleared and Rachel collapsed onto the table. Alex heard a gasp from Susie beside her.

"What happened?" Rachel asked groggily, lifting her head.

"You went all oracle-y again," Percy explained. He told her the prophecy; apparently Rachel did not remember anything that happened when the spirit of Delphi possessed her.

"I think Lucy going missing was part of an even bigger plan," said Chiron, when Rachel and Percy had quietened down. "The fact that Kronos got so close to over throwing us seems to have encouraged the other Titan gods. You see, Poseidon has been trying to rebuild his underwater palace, but Aegean, Titan God of sea storms, keeps sending terrible storms. Prometheus has continually set the entrance to the Empire State building on fire, so Zeus is having a hard time controlling that. I think the titans are trying to keep them occupied. Aegean and Prometheus seem to be the overall leaders just now, but they are rivals. They each want Olympia for themselves."

"Chiron, are we going on a quest?" Susie repeated her question from earlier.

He nodded. "You have been called," he said solemnly. "You should go soon; Lucy could be any where and the longer we wait the less likely it is we can find her. Iris-messaging doesn't work – someone must be shielding her from the Goddess Iris."

"When you leave, go to Manhattan. That's where my dream was. I think once you're there you'll know where to go," Rachel told them. Alex listened to her voice in fascination; it was normal now – like any ordinary teenage girl's voice, but when the Oracle had spoken through her the voice had sounded captivating, if unnerving.

"Can we eat breakfast?" asked Jonathon. Alex thought he sounded like a petulant child, bossing people about. "I'm starving, and I bet everyone else is too."

As if on cue, Alex's stomach rumbled. Until then she had not realized how famished she was, but she had been up for at least an hour now.

Chiron nodded. "You're right, everyone probably is hungry. Let's eat breakfast now and afterwards you can pack and prepare for the quest. Then we'll have lunch, and when we've eaten you should be ready to leave. Annabeth, can you go and tell the other campers to prepare breakfast?"

----

The Hestia cabin was varnished wood, with square windows all round the walls and a painted red door. Inside it was warm; a fire burned on each wall. In front of the main fireplace there was a homely, comfortable looking sofa covered with gold blankets. The two beds were at the back, along with all the sisters' things and the bathroom. Altogether the little hut was cosy and inviting – Alex thought she would much rather sleep there than in her own, sometimes noisy cabin. _I suppose I just have to get used to it, _she thought.

Alex followed Helen to a small water fountain at the side of the cabin. "I'm going to give IMing a try, whatever Chiron says," Helen murmured, producing a small Greek coin from her pocket.

"IMing? Instant-messaging?"

Helen smiled. "Iris-messaging." Despite the smile, Alex could tell Helen was far from happy. Having lived most of her life in a quiet English town with her sister, dad and occasionally her mum, Helen was not used to unhappiness or fear.

"Oh yes, and I really know what that means," Alex said sarcastically.

"Iris is the goddess of rainbows," Helen explained. "If you can make a rainbow, offer her a drachma – a Greek coin – and ask her to show you someone. You can see, hear and talk to them, and they see you, wherever they are. I think Chiron said he already tried to find Lucy that way. He couldn't, but I'm going to try anyway." Alex nodded and Helen threw the gold coin into the fountain. With a splash the coin disappeared. "Please show me Lucy." Nothing happened. They waited around half a minute, staring expectantly at the water fountain, then Helen looked helplessly at Alex. "Chiron's right. Someone must be shielding her." Another thought had occurred to Alex, and she knew it had occurred to Helen and Chiron too: either someone was shielding Lucy, or she had died.

-----

Alex looked down at her plate. She had barely touched her food and she knew why – nerves. Stories of Percy, Annabeth and the rest of them doing heroic deeds were exciting and amazing, but surely it was stupid for her, Alex, to go on a quest. She had no experience, and besides, all they were doing was setting out to Manhattan, and hoping that by some freak chance they would find Lucy – and how likely was that? The only reason anyone thought they might find her was because of a prophecy, and prophecies are not definite, are they? Everything depends on the choices people make, surely?

Suddenly Alex heard a raucous laugh, snapping her out of her reverie. Her whole table had been talking about something that had happened at camp once, but Alex had lost interest right at the beginning.

"You okay, Alex?" asked Kate, tapping her on the shoulder. She gave Alex a reproachful look. "You're really quiet and you haven't eaten a bite."

Alex forced a mouthful of baked potato into her mouth, and then smiled at Kate. "Happy now?"

"We're going as soon as everyone's eaten, and I don't know how long we'll be. We may as well make the most of this, now." Kate mumbled, her mouth full. "And you really should eat all that. You'll probably need it." Alex shrugged, and started cutting up her baked potato.

"So, what happened next?" A boy was nudging Kate with his elbow. Alex felt sure she had seen him before but could not remember his name. "What did they say?"

Kate continued her talk and Alex watched, not taking any of it in. After a while she remembered she should be eating, and began shovelling more of the potato into her mouth. She was just doing this when a deep, irritating voice sounded behind her, making her jump. Turning round she faced Greg. To her surprise he was by himself – no cronies today or any back up in case Kai came to protect her again. Not that she minded. "Yes?"

Greg giggled, as if simply hearing her voice was funny. _Maybe it is, _Alex thought grumpily, watching as the boy controlled himself, then looked her in the eye.

"You were very rude to me last week. I don't like it. Acting like a right British idiot, you was. And you know what? I really don't like it."

Alex sighed. "Leave me alone, Greg. There's no point. I'm going in about ten minutes."

Greg scowled at her. "That's another thing. You think you're–" He broke off mid-sentence, as a dryad with brown skin and leaf-green eyes was hovering at his shoulder, smiling slightly.

"Can I take your plates?" she asked politely, her voice like the breeze through the trees on a sunny afternoon. With another smile she accepted Alex's plate and walked away. A small blue bird flew after her, tweeting. Alex watched in wonder; the girl was so much like a tree, but still she spoke and laughed and walked like any other person. She knew the dryad's name was Autumn, and they had spoken a little bit when Alex arrived at Camp Half Blood, but that was the only time. She was really fascinating to be around.

Looking back at her table Alex saw Chiron trotting towards them. Greg muttered something under his breath and left the table, giving her a dark glance.

"Alex, you know it's getting on for 2 o clock. If you've eaten I suggest you get a move on and take your belongings up to the minibus – it's just over the hill." Alex nodded, and looked around for Autumn but the dryad had disappeared. _Probably turned back into a tree, _Alex thought, disappointed because she had wanted to say goodbye before she left. _After all I've got no idea how long this thing will take. _With a sigh she got up and walked back to her cabin to collect her packed bags.

-----

"Chiron!" Rachel ran up the hill, and joined the centaur beside Argus' minibus. Argus was tall and tanned with blonde hair flopping over his face, but the most noticeable thing about his appearance was the amount of eyes he had – there were bright blue eyes on his forehead, his cheeks, the back of his neck, and according to Kate right across his body. This made him a great guard, and also quite intimidating. When they had loaded their belongings into the van, the "hundred-eye guy" had shown Alex and Kate one of his less-used eyes, which to Kate's amusement and Alex's shock was in the middle of his tongue. "I don't want to imagine what you see while you eat, or worse, when you're sick!" Kate had laughed, making Argus grin and Alex even more horrified.

Inside the rusty minibus, Kate, Alex, Jonathon, Kai, Nico and Helen were all ready to leave, just waiting for Susan to turn up. "She's probably looking for her hair straighteners," as Kate had remarked.

"Chiron!" Rachel repeated, catching her breath. He turned to look at her.

"Yes? Oh look, here comes Susan at last." The camper was walking carefully up the hill, her eyelids heavy with mascara and her blonde hair in pristine condition. She opened the minibus doors and clambered inside with a wide smile.

"Oh, so you decided to turn up?" grumbled Nico quietly. Luckily Susan didn't hear; she was busy putting her bag to one side and settling down in a seat beside Jonathon. Jon blushed when he realized where she had chosen to sit.

Chiron cantered towards the minibus door. "Good luck everyone," he whinnied, handing Argus a folded piece of paper and giving the seven half bloods in the back a wrinkly smile. Alex tried to smile back but she was not sure she was very successful. "No doubt we shall speak soon."

Rachel and Chiron waved them off and watched as the white minibus started down the road. Kate gave Chiron and Rachel a big smile.

"Chiron, I tried to tell you before," said Rachel quietly. Chiron turned to look at her. "Out of those seven half bloods, only six will be coming back alive." Chiron's face darkened but he said nothing, and the two of them watched the Camp minibus disappear down the quiet lane, until nothing but its exhaust could be seen in the distance.

-----

Trees rushed by as the old minibus bumped its way along a country road. Alex stared out of the window, her hands under her chin, and dreamily thought of home. She imagined herself in a normal family, with her mum and dad, a big brother and maybe a baby sister too. In her fantasy she had three best friends and was really popular at school. She was naturally talented at nearly everything and her boyfriend was everything she had ever dreamed of... But Alex knew none of this was true; she had never been particularly popular and the only things she did well in were poetry and PE. Her thoughts turned back to the quest she was embarking on, and the days that were to come. With a sigh she looked round at Helen beside her.

"How are you, Helen?" she murmured, and Helen smiled weakly.

"Worried," she answered. "What about you?"

Alex stretched restlessly. "I don't really know." Yawning she rolled down the window beside her, and stuck out her head into the wind. Her red hair whipped across her face but she welcomed the breeze, and she felt truly excited for the first time since the idea of a quest had come up. After all she had wanted to get away from camp and Greg, and go somewhere exciting like Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. Alex let a smile light up her tired but rosy face.

The minibus was still in the country, and so far in the journey they had only rumbled past one or two other cars. Everything had been almost boring for the past hour; Alex presumed Argus had taken a scenic route to Manhattan, maybe to avoid busy places with lots of people, because the way Hestia had taken her had been very different.

"Why don't we sing a song to cheer ourselves up?" Kate suggested with a laugh, and Susie rolled her eyes. An eye on the back of Argus' neck watched in amusement, and winked at Alex when he saw her watching him.

"_Everywhere we go-o, people always..." _Alex, Kai, Helen, Nico and Jonathon all joined in the song, and soon the noise of the van's engine was drowned out by the sound of their almost-in-tune voices.

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**A/N Please review!!!!! :)**


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